Love In A Time of War
by janiesgotagun
Summary: Set in the time of the Marauders, Desiree Williams is very close friends with James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter. But when Lord Voldemort starts his rise to power, what will happen at Hogwarts, and after? Could Desiree find love in these troubled times?
1. Welcome to Hogwarts!

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay guys, here's a new one from me! This is only the first chapter, I have plenty more to come but I will not be releasing anymore for a few more days, as I am hoping to get a bit more written. I starting writing this story when I was 14 years old, 3 years ago, and I just recently decided to edit it, change up some things and publish it for your viewing pleasure! I welcome any reviews, whether they be good or bad. Thank you!**

"Desiree! Wake up or you're going to be late!"

Desiree Williams slowly opened her eyes, trying to adjust them to the sunlight that was pouring through her open window.  
"I'm up Mum," she shouted.

Desiree got out of bed and into the shower, letting the cold water fall onto her body. She had always liked  
having cold showers opposed to warm ones. Now fully awake, Desiree turned the shower off and got dressed, putting on a pair of jeans and a blue tank top. She brushed her long black hair and left it to hang below her shoulders. Desi then put on some black eyeliner.  
"There. That'll be good enough." she muttered to herself. Desiree then exited her room and slid down the stair railing, meeting her mother at the bottom.

"Desiree, what have I told you about sliding down the stair railing?" Mrs Williams asked.

"I don't know."

"Desi, do you ever listen to anything I say?"

"Huh? What'd you say Mum?" Desiree said jokingly.

"Seriously, Desi, your sense of humour is going to get you into trouble some day."

"Sorry, Mum, can you repeat that?" said Desiree, with a smirk.

"Just go eat your breakfast, Desi."

Desiree went into the kitchen and saw her Dad sitting at the table reading the Daily Prophet. Both of Desi's parents were wizards, but her mother came from a non-magic family so she liked to have a lot of Muggle appliances in the house.

"Morning, Dad." said Desiree.

"Good morning Desi. Hurry up and eat your breakfast because you'll be Side-Along-Apparting with me. On my way to work I'll drop you off at Kings Cross Station."

Desiree poured herself a bowl of cereal and ate quickly. She couldn't wait to see her friends again and get back to Hogwarts. Desiree was just starting her 6th year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and  
Wizardry. She finished eating her cereal and ran up to her room. She grabbed her trunk and put her owl, Zeus, into his cage.

"Back to Hogwarts we go, Zeusy." Desi said. She went back downstairs and saw her Dad waiting impatiently at the door.

"Hurry up, Desi; I'm going to be late for work."

Desiree's Mom then came to the door and gave both Desi and Mr  
Williams a hug and a kiss. "I'll see you later hunny." she said to Mr Williams. Then she  
turned to Desi.

"Desi, promise me that you'll behave this year. I don't want any  
more letters from Professor Dumbledore or Professor McGonagall.  
Do you understand?"

"Of course, mother." Desiree said.

"Well, Desi, time to go. Grab onto my arm." said her Dad.

Desiree grabbed onto her dad's arm, and she felt the two of them leave the ground. After a few seconds, Desi looked around and saw that they had arrived at Kings Cross Station.

"Alright, Desi, listen up. I know you don't take to heart anything your mother tells you, but I'm begging you to try and behave a bit this year...please." her father said.

"I'll try to, Dad, I promise." She said.

Her father nodded at her, still looking unsure. The pair then turned and ran through the wall towards Platform 9 ¾.

"Well, I'll see you when school ends. Be good, and don't forget to write." said Mr Williams.

"Don't worry, I will." said Desi. Her father smiled and hugged her, then Disapparated.

Desiree took hold of her trunk and Zeus' cage, and then set off towards the train.  
"Desi!" She heard someone shout her name. She turned around and saw one of her best friends, Cassandra Dinley, running at her.

"Hey Cassie, I've missed you! Where's Lily?" Desi asked.

"She's on the train saving us a compartment. Come on!"  
Desiree and Cassie got on the train. About half way down they found Lily sitting in a compartment reading a book.

"Hey Lil! It's been awhile!" Desiree said.

"Des, it's great to see you again!"

Desiree sat down across from Lily, and Cassie sat beside her.  
"So, Lily, have you heard from James all summer?" Desi said, grinning.

"No, why would I?"

"Well, seeing as he's madly in love with you, I was just wondering  
if you were making contact with him." said Desi.

"Actually he has written a couple of times, but I didn't write back."

"Lily, why won't you go out with him? He's obviously crazy about you."

"I just don't like him like that, Des. He's rude and arrogant and just not my type."

"Well then what is your type?" Cassie asked.

"I know!" said Desiree.

"What?" said Lily, exasperated.

"Snape!" Desiree exclaimed.

Lily threw her book at Desiree's head, just as someone opened the door to the compartment, and in walked four people.

"James! We were just talking about you!" said Desiree.

"Ooh really now...Anything good?" he asked.

"No, nothing." She said.

"Damn."

The four people who had entered the compartment were James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. The four of them were best friends, and also happened to be friends with Desiree, Cassie, and Lily.

"So ladies," Sirius said, "Miss me much?"

Lily rolled her eyes, Cassie laughed, and Desiree said, "No, sorry. Forgot you even existed."

"Bugger." Said Sirius.

The rest of the train ride continued on with the boys explaining how their summers were. Desiree and the girls left the compartment to change into their Hogwarts robes while the boys did the same inside the compartment. After they were finished, the conversation started to die down, and Desiree fell asleep on Cassie's shoulder.

Desiree woke up about an hour later to someone pinching her nose shut.

"Sorry." said Sirius. "You were snoring and I wanted to see how long it would take to wake you up."

"Couldn't you have just nudged me or something?" Desiree asked grumpily.

"No, this was better. Come on, everyone else is already getting off the train."

Desiree and Sirius got off the train and found a carriage that had two Hufflepuff third years in it.  
The two of them got in the carriage and rode up to the castle, walked into the Great Hall, found seats at the Gryffindor Table near the rest of their friends, and sat down. About five minutes later Professor McGonagall walked in with a long line of first years, all looking extremely nervous. After the Sorting, Professor Dumbledore stood up.

"Well, I won't keep you waiting much longer. Enjoy the feast!"

He sat back down, and food suddenly appeared on the tables. As Desi starting helping herself to some chicken, she noticed that Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter had their heads together and were quietly talking.

"What are you guys up to?" she asked them.  
"Oh, nothing." they said.

Desi then got into a conversation with Lily and Cassie about lessons. A little while later, the food disappeared and the desserts came.

"Hey, Desi, try this pudding. It's really good." said Sirius.

Desiree took it and looked at it. It looked like chocolate pudding but smelled like vanilla. She thought it would be safe to try, so she took a bite. It was delicious! She ate the rest of it.

"Was it good?" asked James.

"Yes, it was-" but then all of a sudden, Desiree felt very dizzy. She dropped her spoon and fainted.


	2. Witness Protection Act for Wizards?

Desiree woke up later to find that she was lying in a bed in the Hospital Wing.

"Madam Pomfrey! She's awake!" Desi heard someone say.

Desiree looked around and saw that Lily, Cassie, Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter were all standing around her bed.

"How long was I out?" She asked.

"Only for an hour." Lily answered.

"What happened?"

"That would be Sirius' and James' doing." said Lily with a scowl.

"Well," James began. "You remember that pudding we gave you? There was a potion in there that was supposed to make your whole body turn blue and flash really brightly."

Then Sirius explained further. "But we must have did something wrong while making the potion." he said. "Because it made you faint, and if you look in the mirror, you will notice that the potion also made you develop pink dots all over you."

"What the bloody hell! You guys are pricks!" Desiree shouted.

Madam Pomfrey bustled over, almost knocking Peter out of his chair trying to get to Desiree.

"Tisk, tisk. You must have made a new record, Miss Williams. You just got back and you're already in the Hospital Wing!"

She felt Desi's forehead. "Oh, dear. You have a terrible fever. Stay put and I'll be right back" said Madam Pomfrey.

"Listen, Desi, we're really sorry." said Sirius.  
"Yeah," James added. "Very sorry."  
"Well, I guess I could forgive you...But I'm still really angry!" she said.  
Madam Pomfrey then came back over holding a goblet.

"Well, Miss Williams, I guess you have those two to thank for this. Here, drink this." Desiree took the goblet and drank it. It was disgusting. "I guess you can leave now, the spots should start disappearing in a few minutes and your fever will dissipate gradually." Said Madam Pomfrey.

"Okay, thanks so much." Said Desiree. She got out of the bed and left the hospital wing, friends in tow.

In the Gryffindor Common Room, everyone decided to say their goodnights and head up to their dormitories. Lying in bed, Desiree quickly fell asleep.

The next morning, everyone had already gotten up and left before Desiree even woke up. She got up and quickly got dressed, meeting her friends in the Great Hall for breakfast, where Professor McGonagall was handing out timetables. Desiree looked at hers. Transfiguration first, followed by a free period, then double Potions. She groaned loudly.

"Yours can't be any worse than mine, Des," said Sirius. "I have double Potions."

"Oh yeah? So do I."

Sirius groaned. "Oh Lord, now it's going to be even worse," he joked.

Desiree ignored him and compared timetables with everyone else. She, Cassie, Lily, and Peter all had a free period at the same time. Sirius, James, and Remus were to be in Ancient Runes at this time.

In Transfiguration first class, Desiree sat at a table with Lily and Cassie, while the four boys sat behind them.

"Ok class," said McGonagall. "Today we will be Transfiguring objects into animals. You will be given wooden blocks and will attempt to turn them into frogs. The incantation is _'Misaro'_. Now go ahead and try it."

The class went to work. Cries of _Misaro_ could be heard all around the class. James, Lily, and Remus managed to do it on their second or third try. After James showed Sirius the proper way, he was able to do it.

"Lily, can you help Cassie and I?" Desiree asked.

"Yeah, sure. Point your wand at your block and say _Misaro_."

Both Desi and Cassie tried. Nothing happened. They tried again. Nothing happened to Cassie's but Desi's block hopped.

"Whoa, it hopped!" Desi said excitedly.

"Yes, well, you understand how to do the spell, but your obviously not concentrating fully on it" Lily explained.

"Thats because I'm trying not to laugh at Snape. His frog left him a present on his head."  
Sure enough, Snape's frog had hopped onto his head and used the bathroom.

Desi tried again, and her block turned into a frog.

"I did it!" Desi cheered.  
By the end of the class, Cassie and Peter still hadn't managed to do it.  
"For homework," said McGonagall. "Practise this spell. I guarantee you it will come up on your NEWTs next year."

Everyone exited the room, and Desiree, Cassie, Lily and Peter went to the Common Room for their free period.

"Well, I guess I'll practise now." said Desi, with a very suspicious smirk.

Cassie and Peter started a game of Exploding Snap, while Lily went up to her dormitory to find a book.

"Well my fine friends, its practise time!" Desi said.

She pointed her wand at a chair, said _Misaro,_ and it turned into a frog. Desiree did this to anything she could. By the end of break, all the furniture, portraits, and spare quills and parchment were all frogs.

"Desiree Williams! What is going on here?" Lily had come down the stairs.

"I was practising!" Desi said, trying to look as innocent as she could. Behind her, Cassie and Peter were trying very hard not to laugh.

"This is not acceptable at all!" said Lily. She waved her wand and everything was Transfigured back to its original state. Just then, they heard a loud snap, and a "WOOHOO!" from Cassie. They turned around and looked at her; she had won the game against Peter.

"It's my one true talent," she shrugged.

On their way out the portrait hole heading towards their next class, they ran into Sirius, James and Remus. Sirius ran into the Common Room to grab his books, he and Desiree then headed towards Potions class.

They arrived at Potions just in time and sat at the table Peter and Cassie were already seated at.  
Professor Slughorn was standing at the front of the room, waiting for silence. When silence finally came, he began.

"Welcome back, students, to another year with me, your wonderful Potions Master. Today, we will be learning about the Polyjuice Potion. We will not, however, be brewing it because it would take roughly a month. Now, everyone, take out your books and we'll begin the lesson."

The rest of the lesson was spent discussing the Polyjuice Potion. By the end of the lesson, Desi had fallen asleep and Sirius was drawing a moustache and beard on her face. When the bell rang, the four of them walked down to the Great Hall for supper.

"Desi! What happened to your face?" Lily said upon seeing her.

"What?! Is there something on it?" Desi asked.

"Yes! There's a moustache and beard." Cassie handed Desi a mirror and she examined her face. Horrified, she immediately turned to Sirius, who was quietly sniggering.

"Sirius Black! Oh my god, I am going to murder you! You'd better watch your back mister." she then stormed out of the Great Hall.

"Lily," Sirius said slowly. "Is there a Witness Protection Act for wizards?"


End file.
